It's Not the End
by DZD3
Summary: Shikamaru and Kiba finally realize they have feelings for each other. But when a group of enemy shinobi come and capture Shikamaru for an unknown purpose, how will everyone take this. Will Kiba and the others be strong enough to take Shikamaru back? Or will something else happen?
1. Remembering

I don't own anything but the story. Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

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Chapter 1: Remembering

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"Geez, it's just been mission after mission. When am I gonna be able to relax?" The cloud gazer sighed thinking about it all. Since the village has been targeted, Tsunade has been really pushing me to help out more. It's hard to believe that many rely on me just because I happen to be the smartest as well as skilled with strategy tactics. It's not always about being the smartest. Sometimes you have to be strong and push forward like Naruto or go with instinct and guts like Kiba or Lee. I just don't have that in me. I especially don't have it in me since I'm the last Nara. It's been hard; it's been a year since I lost my parents, and I remember that day too well.

~Flashback~

"I'm here Lady Tsunade. What was so urgent that you needed me to be here so late?" I rubbed my eyes. She stared out the window without turning to me. Shizune looked at me with a depressed look in her eyes. I knew something was up and I was getting worried.

"Lady Tsunade, what's going on?" She slowly turned to me with her head down.

"Shikamaru " I could barely hear her call my name. "I'm so sorry " I looked down to see a scroll in her hand. I looked down not sure what to do.

"What's with the scroll Lady Tsunade?" She laid it on her desk wide open for me to read then she went back to the window and stared out. I moved over to the scroll to get a better look at it.

"Lady Tsunade, I'm sorry to inform you of this but teams 24, 27, 39, 56, 71, 90, 99, 105, 106, 133, and 148 have been wiped out by the enemy. We need to retreat for now. Many of the surviving teams have been greatly injured. We lost two of our shinobi that had most of the information we needed, Shikaku Nara and Yoshino Nara.

The rest of the scroll contained info on the mission; I just couldn't look away from my parents' name. This couldn't be happening. No I've already lost my teacher, my best friend!

I quickly walked to the desk and grabbed the scroll that had my name and unrolled it.

"Shikamaru, we love you very much .No matter what happens, we believe you'll overcome it. We know you'll also overcome yourself. You're father found out about 'you know what' and he accepts you. Just remember who you are, is nothing to ever be ashamed up. You have so many people who care for you. I just wish we could've came back to tell you this ourselves. Your father was right, he told me he had a bad feeling about this mission so we decided to write this before anything bad did happen. We're sorry we won't be coming back today, but one day we'll be together again and until than just be strong and live your life how you want. Besides you're the greatest mind here in the village, I'm sure you'll think of something. We love you with all our hearts.

Love Mom and Dad

P.S. There are some leftovers in the fridge. I heard you have a tough mission coming up so be careful. Again we love you and are always with you! "

I didn't even know that Tsunade walked up to me and when I did she hugged me. I finally grasped the concept of the message and I couldn't help it. I broke down as well as shut down. The scroll my parent's left me in my other hand dropped to the floor. This was all I had left of my parents.

"Shikamaru, I'm sorry." Tsunade held me while I cried.

End of Flashback

"Hey! Shikamaru! What are you doing just laying there?" The blonde asked. "Did you forget you, me and Chouji we're supposed to train today?" I looked back at Ino to see her hand on her hip and the usual glare whenever I or Chouji did something wrong.

"Well, I'm sorry I get sent on troublesome missions constantly. It's not like I get the luxury to relax like most people." It came out snappier than intended. Ino let out a small sigh before taking a seat next to me.

"What's wrong? Shikamaru, we've been friends for a long time. I know we may not be close like you and Chouji, but we're getting there." She smiled a little while following my gaze up to the sky. She was right though we have been getting closer, almost like a sister.

"Nothings wrong just have a lot on my mind I guess." She looked at me with disbelief. She saw right through my empty words.

"It's been a year since you're parent's death huh " The blonde pulled her legs into her chest and stared into the sky. I stayed quiet. I didn't want to reply to that. I don't feel like reliving the past.

"Ino, I-" she cut me off.

She put a hand on my shoulder. "Shikamaru, you're like an older brother to me and I love you. I want you to be able to talk to me if something is on your mind. I won't force you...but know I'm here." She squeezed me shoulder a little bit to reassure me.

"Troublesome." She smiled a bit. I guess it wouldn't kill me to let her in on things. "Yeah it's been one year since I lost my parents. It's been hard to accept that they really are gone and I'm still trying to get over it. I've lost so much already and I don't know what to do. Hell my dad finally found out last year that I was gay and my mom has been so accepting of me she was happy I finally came to terms with it." I look over to see if she was still listening, only to see her staring back with full attention.

"We weren't to sure how dad would handle it so we didn't say anything but than she did the day they died. They wrote me a letter and I was shocked. He was totally fine with it. Asuma even knew and he didn't care. While others who found out shunned me, I had them who were okay with it. Hell, even you accepted me which was weird and " I stopped there I didn't feel like explaining more that was on my mind. She nodded understanding that was all she was going to get from the lazy man.

"You know, we're all getting together later, like we used to when we were younger. Do you want to go, maybe?" I looked over at her to see her staring at me, hoping for me to say yes.

"What the hell, why not." A small smile formed, she changed the subject to get my mind off the more depressing matters.

"Don't think that I'm dropping our conversation just because you're coming though." She winked at me. I lazily looked at her and shrugged.

"Whatever." She giggled a little at that and headed off to help with planning. What am I getting myself into. Whatever it was I didn't have a good feeling about it. I was however looking forward to seeing everyone again. It's been maybe three or four months since I last saw anyone besides Ino or Chouji. I wonder how everyone's been anyway. 'I guess I should head home and get ready. I'm sure someone will get me when it's time.'

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Not much changed in this chapter but it's a start. Anyway thank you for reading and hope you all stick around. Hopefully you find the changes nice, for those who already read this. If you're new to this story enjoy the slightly error free story. :)

DZD3


	2. Surprise

Chapter 2: Surprise

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'It's been like two hours, I wonder if the girls are done with preparations.' I got off the couch and walked up to my room and decided to start getting ready.

"Shikamaru, I'm letting myself in." I could hear Ino walking around downstairs.

"I'm up here Ino." I pulled on some pants right before she walked in.

"Ah, I see you're getting ready for tonight?" She looked at the clothes I laid out on the bed. "Wait a second." She walked over to my closet and was muttering no to her self until I heard, "Here we go! This would look much better on you!" She pulled out a black v-neck tee with a neckalce and a dark green jacket.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I took my things from her.

"Well, I'm picking out your outfit. I mean it's not like we're going to be called for a mission anytime soon so might as well keep it casual." She smiled. I looked at what she was wearing. She had a black long sleeve shirt on with a dark violet vest hoodie over it, and a dark violet skirt to match with black boots.

"Whatever, it's not like I care what I look like." I sighed pulling the shirt on and grabbing my jacket. "I guess it's time to head over to...where ever we're supposed to be?" She smiled and shook her head.

"I came over a little earlier to talk." She walked over to the window sill and looked outside. "I told you I wouldn't drop it so ready to tell me what's going on." I stood there just unsure of what I should say.

"I don't know Ino; it's not that I don't want to talk. I'm just not sure what to even say. There's so much going on and it's tearing me apart." I could feel the loneliness I've endured creeping into my mind. I fell to my knees. My eyes became watery, my breathing getting heavier; I could feel my breaking point coming.

"Shikamaru!" Ino came up behind me and hugged me trying to calm me down. "Everything's okay Shikamaru, I'm right here!" The blonde was trying to keep it together, she knew what I've endured and both she and Chouji have been here for me. I had to restrain myself from crying but I broke down. I was weak.

"Shikamaru? Ino? Are you guys here?" I could hear Chouji downstairs.

"Chouji we're up here!" The blonde sounded more frantic than she wanted. Chouji was running up the stairs. He frowned seeing me on the floor in Ino's arms.

"What happened?" The big nin crouched down next to me.

"Help now questions later. Help me get him to the bed." Ino was about to pull me up until I pulled away from her.

"I'm fine. Just go wait for me downstairs." They hesitated before finally heading downstairs. I didn't feel like moving so I stayed on the ground curled up. 'What is wrong with me? I can't keep myself together all of a sudden.' It felt like half an hour passed by before I got up. I quickly finished getting ready before joining my friends.

"You gonna be okay?" Chouji stood up with Ino. I just nodded and walked out with them.

"Ino, you never told us where we were hanging out." The big nin looked up thinking about the situation.

"Well no duh. It's a surprise!" She grinned excitedly thinking about how tonight was going to be.

"This seems more troublesome than it should be." I sighed following behind my teammates.

We finally reached our destination. It was the third training ground. I looked around to see a bunch of lanterns hanging and tables. It looked more like a party than a get together. I saw Tenten, Lee and Sai putting up more decorations while Sakura and Kiba getting a bon fire prepared.

"Wow this looks great!" I turned around to see Chouji at the tables with food. Typical, he'd go for the food instantly. "Hey why can't I move?" The big nin looked at the ground to see his shadow connected to mine.

"Come on Chouji, you can wait a little longer." He looked at me and whined a little bit.

"But I'm soooooooooo hungry Shikamaru!" Ino came up behind him and held out a plate of food to him.

"This is all you're getting until everyone is here. Alright?" I released the jutsu and Chouji hugged the blonde.

"Thank you!" The big nin already began scarfing down the food. While he was occupied Ino and I helped everyone else finish. Turns out it was more than a get together, it was someone's birthday. To be exact, it was Naruto's. This was going to be his first birthday with all of us. He usually spent it alone from what I heard, sometimes some of us would catch him but never a big party like this. It felt good to do something like this for him.

"I'm really excited. I hope Naruto likes this." Hinata was a lot more out going than usual. Everyone did actually.

"Okay everyone listen up! Sai went to go get Naruto. They will be arriving soon. Is everything good to go?" Tsunade looked at everyone there.

"Yep!" Everyone said in unison. After a few minutes passed by, Naruto finally showed up but was blindfolded and led by Sai. Everyone was quiet and ready to surprise him.

"Sai I swear if this is another one of your weird things I'm gonna-" He stopped when Sai began untying the blindfold.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY NARUTO!" Everyone shouted. Naruto was really surprised. He looked like he was about to cry when everyone was rushing up to him. He was really happy.

"This is all for me?" Everyone smiled.

"Of course silly, know anyone else who has a birthday today?" Sakura laughed.

"You guys are the best, really!" Naruto was just bubbling with more enthusiasm than anything today.

The party went on with games and stories. Even some dancing happened. I enjoyed watching everyone have fun. I'm glad I decided to come instead of stay at home or something.

"Okay everyone, it's time for gifts!" The girls were obviously excited for this part.

Naruto started grabbing the gifts one by one. Sakura got him a new medicinal kit that he could use on missions, Sai and Tenten got him some ninja tools, Kakashi got him one of those books he was always reading; which Naruto actually kept. Lee and Neji gave him some weights to help with training; and Kiba got him a bigger wallet, seeing as how Naruto manages to lose money a lot. Shino got him a pair of sunglasses, strange enough, Chouji got him a huge basket of food, and Ino gave him a bouquet of poisonous flowers, which he could use their nectar and such to add poison to his weapons, and apparently I got him a shogi board. Tsunade, Shizune and Kurenai gave him some money, and Guy gave him another suit of youth. I think Hinata's gift beat everyone else's though, she made him a shirt with her clan's logo on it and gave him a birthday kiss. That was a huge shock for everyone. It was the first time we saw Naruto blush and Hinata smiling back.

At some point Teuchi and Ayame arrived with a huge bowl of ramen for none other than the blonde. As the night went on, food was being eaten, music being played, and so on with the festivities.

I walked over to chill by the fire that Kakashi had relit a while ago I felt a hand on my shoulder expecting to see Ino.

"Hey you've been pretty quiet Shikamaru. Is everything okay?" The dog lover asked and sat beside me.

"Kiba?" I wasn't expecting him out of all people.

"It's just me, what's up?" He flashed his toothy grin.

"Nothing, just feel a little out of it today." I could feel him eyeing me looking for something, I heard him sigh.

"That's no good, you should be with all of us right now instead of by yourself. We haven't seen you in forever!" He grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me up.

"Come on Kiba, stop it." He let me go. "I think I'm just gonna head home. Tell everyone I said bye." With that I started heading home.

"I'm going with you just incase. You don't look too well." He sounded a little more worried than he should.

The walk home wasn't to quiet with his interrogation.

"I'm pretty sure I'm fine Kiba." I was starting to get agitated.

"I don't know it really doesn't seem like it. I mean- Shikamaru!" I could feel the dog lover's warmth as he picked me up.

"Damn it Shikamaru! I knew you weren't feeling good!" He was holding onto me pretty tight. I couldn't help but smile a little at his reaction.

Then everything went black.

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Thanks again to you great readers!

DZD3


	3. Confessions

Chapter 3: Confessions

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I woke up to the sound of rain filling the room. I felt lost, most likely because I didn't even know where I was. I rolled over on my side feeling uncomfortable, probably from how I must've slept. I heard a light snoring coming from the other side of me. I turned my head enough to see what it was making the sound. It was none other than the mutt. Then it hit me. 'WHAT THE HELL DID I DO LAST NIGHT?'

"Uh Kiba?" He moved closer to me and snuggled into my back. "Hey, wake up." He opened his eyes and then realized where he was. He quickly sat up and moved to the edge of the bed.

"I'm so sorry Shikamaru. Oh god " He put his face in his hands. I couldn't help but laugh a little at the scene.

"It's okay. What exactly happened last night?" I sat up as well. I don't remember much besides leaving the party.

"I'm not sure. You wanted to leave, so I walked with you. While we were walking you suddenly collapsed. I didn't know what to do so I just brought you home and stayed here to make sure you'd be all right." He turned around to look at me.

"Awe you were worried about me?" I teased him a little.

"So what! For being lazy your heavy!" Kiba blushed and looked away. "I think I deserve a 'Thank you Kiba for taking me home and taking care of me.' Don't you think?" He looked over at me flashing a grin.

I just laughed, "And for keeping me warm on such a cold fall night?" He blushed again.

"Shut up! I was tired too and accidentally fell asleep..." I smirked than it hit me. Kiba was standing in only his boxers.

"So the fact you're just about naked means you were tired to?" That caused the dog nin to look down and go completely red and dove for the covers.

"Shut it Shikamaru!" Just be thankful I carried your lazy ass home." I chuckled.

"You ok?" I nudged the figure under the covers.

"Kiba, what's up? Talk to me." I had the strangest feeling, like something was different. He popped out from under the covers.

"I don't think you wanna hear what I have to say." He kept his face down.

"Try me." I really wanted to know. He sat up and moved towards the end of the bed not looking at me.

"Kiba look at me when you talk, it's not polite." I teased once again. He turned to me, face serious. Which didn't look right.

"Shikamaru. I was really worried about you." He looked down.

"Why were you worried? It's no big deal." Starting to feel confused.

"No big deal? Shikamaru, this is a big deal to me. I " He paused.

"You ? You what Kiba?" I moved a little closer to him.

"I I really like you Shikamaru. Ever since the rescue Sasuke mission, I began to realize how amazing you are and than I realized how attracted I was with you." He was blushing profusely.

"You like me?" He nodded. I was shocked. Kiba liked and to top it off, he liked me of all people too. I felt really happy to hear that too strange enough. I moved closer to him and I smiled.

"Shikamaru?" I wrapped my arms around him and smiled. "So you like me, now what?" I felt his arms wrap around me. The mutt pulled me into him and I could feel a smile form on his face.

"Are you okay with this Shikamaru?" I nodded.

"I don't know yet, I'll have to think about it..." I smirked getting playfully shoved away.

"What's there to think about?" He pouted.

"I never thought you liked guys and to be honest, like someone like me." Kiba moved into my lap. "You're smart, strong, fun and really care about those close to you. Why wouldn't I like that?" To his shock I pull him into a kiss. He tasted sweet, almost like strawberries, and his scent was arousing.

"So I guess we're a couple now. Can I call you Shika?" Kiba chuckled a little and nuzzled my neck.

"I don't mind, but I hope you know that we're going to have to tell everyone, right?" He nodded and repositioned us so that we could lay down.

"Can we stay in bed all day?" The dog lover closed his eyes smiling at me.

"As great of an idea that may be, we can't sadly." I laughed at him pouting. I can't believe this. I have the guy I've always wanted in my bed. We have each other, want each other, and need each other.

Maybe it's just me who needs him. I don't care though, with everything that has happened I haven't felt happier. I kissed his forehead.

"Damn, you're so cute." Kiba just laughed at me. He sat up when he heard someone knocking at the door. "It's probably Ino or Choji." I got up and got dressed. "Shall we go?"

"Let's." He got up and followed me down to the door. By the time we got down the stairs, whoever it was already let themselves in. You could hear two voices in the kitchen.

"So why are we here Ino?" The big ninja was sitting at the table already eating a bag of something.

"Because Chouji, we're here to make sure Shikamaru is okay. So to do this we'll make him breakfast. I'm sure he'll be excited to wake up to his friends and breakfast!" She was a little too excited. I looked over to the clock in the living room to see what time it was. "It's only 6:40. You really wanna make breakfast this early?" Ino and Choji both froze and looked to see me and Kiba in the doorway.

"Shikamaru? Kiba?" Ino paid more attention to Kiba than anything. It looked like she had a million questions buzzing around in her head.

"I'm surprised to see you up so early Shikamaru. Sorry for barging in on you like this." Chouji continued eating.

"I'm not sure why I'm up so early, I just know Kiba was taking care of my last night and I woke up to him this morning. But there's something I have to tell you guys." Ino gasped and her face went red. "Ino are you all right?" The blonde was slightly squealing and spazzing out about something. She ran up to Kiba and pulled him into the living room and started whispering.

"No Ino I didn't do that." She whispered again. "No I didn't do that either." She looked frustrated and whispered again. "We did a couple times why?" She squealed and kept the questions going and Kiba was just going with whatever she was asking.

"Anyways since you're the only one who'll listen, Kiba and I are together." Chouji placed a hand on my shoulder and smiled at me.

"I'm happy for you two, really. Who did the asking?" Chouji tilted his head a little.

"Well, it was more like a confession between us, so there really wasn't any asking." The big nin laughed a little. Ino came running back into the kitchen and jumped onto my back.

"Oh my god I'm so happy for you Shikamaru! When were you going to tell me about you and Kiba? Oh my god! You two are so adorable together!" Ino went of squealing about my relationship. Maybe I should've told her last. No that'd be bad. She'd kill me for not telling her first.

"I want to see you two kiss." Ino sat on the table in front of us smiling and waiting eagerly.

"That's personal and plus it's too troublesome." I sighed, but jumped a little when Kiba came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me.

"Awe am I too troublesome." The dog lover chuckled. I couldn't help but smile at that.

"No you'll never be troublesome to me." He hugged me tighter and kissed my cheek. The blonde squealed.

"Oh my god I love this!" Ino hugged both of us.

"Alright, so were you planning on keeping this a secret or were you going to tell everyone?" She smiled looking at both us, eyes gleaming with excitement.

"I guess we'll get everyone together and let them know." Kiba moved over to the counter thinking about it. I sighed at the thought. This would be troublesome, how is everyone going to react, what will they do or say. So much to think about.

"So I'm gonna start breakfast and Shikamaru, you're going to help me." Kiba and Chouji laughed and moved into the living to discuss plans while Ino started getting everything out.

"So, how did this happen?" She asked while digging in the fridge.

"Basically I woke up to see Kiba in my room and we talked about the past a little and he came out and told me how he felt about me and I did the same. Then we came down here to see you and Chouji here. That's about it." She nodded.

"I'm so happy for you, I'm glad you have someone like Kiba in your life now." Someone was knocking on the door.

"I'm sorry for entering, the door was left open." It was Hinata.

"Oh hey Hinata, how are you?" She smiled and waved.

"I'm good, I'm just looking for Kiba. I saw him leave the party with Shikamaru and thought he might know where he is. But I see he's here." She smiled again. Ino popped out of the kitchen.

"Hey, Hinata why don't you join us for breakfast? We'll be making enough." The Hyuuga tried to refuse but Ino and Kiba talked her into it.

"So Kiba and Shikamaru are together?" Hinata asked to make sure she understood. Ino nodded and smiled at me again. Hinata also smiled to me.

"I hope you two are happy together and are able to stick with each other through the good and bad times. I believe that won't be a problem though. It just feels like you two are perfect together." She smiled at Kiba who was talking in the living room.

"I'm glad you have faith in us." I laughed a little and continued making breakfast with the girls. It was a weird feeling, but I liked it.

The door busted open again, this time a couple more visitors walked in. It was Naruto, Sakura, Tenten, and Lee.

"Where are Neji, Sai and Shino at? I mean everyone is just about here." Kiba asked smiling to see everyone again, even though he saw them last night.

"They're on a mission with Kakashi; they left not too long ago." Tenten said annoyed. "I mean Neji and I were supposed to go out to lunch but he won't be back for another three days!" I smiled to myself. What would I do without these guys; I can't imagine my life without them. I laughed out causing everyone to look at me.

"What's so funny Shikamaru?" They all looked at me confused.

"Just that you guys are troublesome." That earned a chuckle out of some, sure it was a bit random but it was nice to know I have so much in my life. Ino and Hinata came out of the kitchen.

"How about some help? Hinata and I aren't capable of cooking for an army!" She acted fussy. Sakura, Tenten and I headed to the kitchen. I stopped and turned around.

"Well all the girls are here so I'll sit with you guys." I smiled and sat next to Kiba.

Tenten, Sakura, and Ino came out and pulled me up off the couch. Hinata was following close by. "I don't think so, we have much to discuss about! Besides you have to tell Sakura and Tenten and fill them in." Ino smiled, like she achieved something great. Then the girls dragged me to the kitchen.

About half an hour went by and from what I already told Ino, Hinata was blushing profusely while Sakura and Tenten we're squealing with Ino. After regaining control of the girls, we quickly finished breakfast.

"Alright we're finally finished. Come on guy's, time to eat." Sakura called in everyone. When we all sat down I just realized that I had a huge table. It was big enough for a group of 15. We all talked and ate. It was enjoyable and after we finished, everyone helped clean up. I decided since the girls know, it was time for the guys to find out too.

Kiba came up too me and kissed my cheek. That pulled me out of my thoughts.

"I'm sure you already told the girls, so I told the guys. They are totally cool with us being together." I just smiled and kissed him back. The girls were yet again squealing while the guys teased. It's been an interesting morning and I'm glad everything turned out for the best.

Everything is going so well, but what is this ominous feeling that I'm getting?

* * *

Now that things are in motion, what is this feeling Shika is feeling? Only time will tell. Thanks to FearIsButFearItself and thanks to Tadashi Fire Wolf!

DZD3


	4. Trouble Arises

Chapter 4: Trouble Arises

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It turned out that everyone decided to chill here at my place and relax seeing as how there was nothing else to do today. I really wanted to relax with Kiba but this was nice too. Everyone was able to entertain themselves and everyone else.

"Hinata I challenge you to a game!" He pulled out some cards and started to shuffle. "Its a little game called *Oichu-Kabu Basically the goal of the game is to reach nine. As in baccarat, the last digit of any total over ten makes your hand: a fifteen counts as five, a twelve as two, and a twenty as zero. Having two of the same card makes it the card number: a ten and a ten equals ten, one and a one equals one..." Hinata blushed but agreed. She looked happy to have Naruto ask her to do something with him. Of course Naruto lost. He lost a few more games against Tenten, Chouji, and Kiba.

The other girls talked about what they should make for dinner and the guys reminisce about the crazy things going on such as the remaining Akatsuki and the attacks and so on.

I walked out of the kitchen and stood in the doorway to see how happy everyone was. Though I do prefer the quiet, relaxed atmosphere, I enjoy this just the same. Ino came behind me and rested her chin on my shoulder.

"So, any plans for the first date?" I looked over to see her smiling at the scene of our friends.

"I have an idea, I just don't know if he'll find it that interesting." I could feel her shaking her head, disagreeing.

"Shikamaru, you should know that it doesn't matter what you do. At least not all the time, but it's really about the time you two spend together. You both will be with each other so I'm sure he'll love the fact that you two are doing it together." She looked at me out of the corner of her eyes and smiled with me.

"You know you are one of the most troublesome people I know, but love." We both started to laugh a little. After recomposing ourselves, we sat down with everyone else. It was relaxing until Sakura, Tenten and Ino announced a game.

"Okay, here's the plan for now. We are all going to play truth or dare. You all have to play no ifs, ands, or buts. Plus there are some rules. First of all, you have to pick one or the other so no passing. Second if you choose dare you have to complete whatever that dare is." As Tenten finished explaining she placed an empty bottle down in the center of everyone.

I was about to get up until Kiba pulled me into him.

"Come on Shika, it'll be fun!" I sighed in defeat and leaned against him. The weapon nin spun the bottle and everyone watched intensely to see who the first victim would be. It stopped on Hinata. She was already blushing.

The weapon nin asked Hinata the question. "Truth or dare?"

It seemed as if she was having the most intense mental battle but picked dare, which shocked everyone including herself.

"Alright Hinata, I dare you to go all out on Naruto's mouth." I swear I could see the Hyuuga hesitate, but she looked up and crawled over to Naruto and looked at him. This was becoming more interesting since we've never seen Hinata act like this.

"Naruto I love you." She didn't stutter, or look away. She said it straight to his face and kept eye contact. "I've always loved you Naruto, I wanted to tell you sooner but I just could never find the right time. But I decided it was either now or never." She gave a small smile and leaned in.

Her lips touched Naruto's and once that contact was made, it slowly became a battle of dominance and she was winning.

After about ten minutes, what was once surprising and shocking, slowly became irritating to others since they wanted to continue the game. Eventually they finally stopped and in the end she crawled into his lap.

"I love you too Hinata. I'm sorry it took so long for me to realize it." The two looked so cute together causing me to look over to Kiba who for a moment looked so calm and serene, his face was really beautiful. I should probably say handsome but either way he looked perfect. I ended up pulling him into my lap and kissed his neck.

"About damn time." Kiba shouted playfully. Naruto stuck out his tongue.

"I could say the same thing to you Kiba." Hinata chuckled knowing her friend all too well. He blushed at that and leaned against me.

"So if Kiba, Shikamaru, Hinata, and Naruto focus we can move on." Sakura laughed.

The game went on for maybe two or three hours, and within that time many things were told, discovered and many things happened. But it calmed down and evening started to roll around. Again I was wondering why everyone was still here and why no one left.

"Okay it's almost 5; I think we should head to the market and figure what to make for dinner." The pink haired kunoichi talked amongst the other girls while the guys just laid there starving.

"I swear you guys are useless without us girls around." Ino paused then smiled. "Well most of you anyway." The girls headed towards the kitchen deciding to make a list of what to get, but they stopped after writing 'Shopping List'.

"Well it would be easy to make a list if we knew what we were making. You know you guys could help out too you know." Sakura yelled. Chouji and Naruto both thought of the same things.

"Ramen!" Yelled Naruto and Chouji.

"NO!" Ino, Sakura and Tenten shouted in unison. "We'll have an actual meal tonight!"

"Well, how about we just do a barbeque? I mean we can all go to the store and grab stuff and make it good and healthy so everyone gets a little but of everything?" Kiba stated looking around. I sighed at how troublesome dinner was becoming.

Everyone thought about it than nodded in agreement. Naruto stood up on the table.

"Alright then! This will be an A rank mission! There will be three teams of three and we each have ten minutes to head out and get some good food. Those who fail will pay the consequence!" The hyper blonde stood on the coffee table and just laughed away, at least until I kicked him off the table.

"What the hell was that for Shikamaru?"

"No standing on the table idiot. It's not for standing on. Besides what is this so called "consequence"? I looked at him a little intrigued.

"You'll just have to wait and see, I'm sure someone will be at least a minute or two late." He gave his trademark grin.

"How are we supposed to know when the ten minutes are up?" Kiba sat up also intrigued. The hyper blonde ran over to his bag and pulled out a timer.

"This is what Kakashi sensei used when he put us through our training exercise three years ago."

"How will we decide teams?" Lee asked very excited for a challenge.

He went back to his bag and pulled out small pieces of paper and numbered them 1-3 and then put it in the vase that was on the table. After everyone got their paper Naruto pointed to three spots in the living room and assigned a number to each spot.

"Ones will go on the long couch over there, twos will go by the TV, and threes will go by the door."

Everyone moved and the teams were done. Team one was made up of Lee, Naruto, and Chouji. Team two was made up of Sakura, Kiba, and Tenten. Team three was made up of Hinata, Ino and I. This was going to be interesting.

Kiba gave me a look as if he was challenging me. "Looks like you three might be in a bit of trouble."

I smirked, "We'll see about that dog boy." he smiled.

"Alright let's get the ball rolling!" The hyper blonde was enjoying himself too much. But everyone nodded and was ready for this "mission" Naruto invented.

He set the timer for ten minutes and then let everyone get ready. By the time we were done we were all outside in front of my house.

"Ready!"

"Set!"

"Go!"

We all took off quickly.

"I swear if missions were more like this, it would be a little more fun." Ino laughed. Hinata and I just laughed with her.

"So what do you think we should grab?" I asked now realizing we weren't heading anywhere particular. We decided to stop and figure that out before anything else.

"Maybe we could grab some desserts?" Hinata was looking over at a bakery.

"That sounds great! Come on Shikamaru!" Ino and Hinata were looking at everything through the window.

"Sounds good to me." With that we headed into the bakery and browsed through everything. After about four minutes they finally picked out a giant white chocolate raspberry cake, at least two dozen cookies, and maybe 15 sweet bean buns.

"I think we have about 4 minutes to get back. Let's hurry." The blonde smiled. Thankfully we weren't too far; we were back at my place within half a minute.

"I wonder where everyone else is." Hinata looked around than to the timer noticing there was only a minute left.

"Maybe they were just having some problems trying to decide what to grab?" The blonde shrugged giving a small smile; seeming a little unsure herself.

"I have a bad feeling...something just doesn't feel right." The timer went off and we all looked at each other. After turning it off we waited a couple minutes.

"Something really isn't right." I looked back at Hinata. "Hinata use your Byakugan and see where everyone is." The blue haired nin nodded and activated her Byakugan.

"I found everyone but it looks as if they aren't alone. I haven't seen these people before, and that's not all. There's someone heading towards us. Both Ino and I tensed hearing this.

"Come on out, I know you're here." Hinata called out to whoever was hiding.

"So you must be from the Hyuuga clan. I would expect no less from you." He jumped down. He looked a bit older than us as well as a bit taller, he had a light skin tone and his hair was short and black. He had a headband on but no symbol.

"Why are you here and what do you want?" Ino asked getting nervous.

"I'm sorry that's none of your business, plus we don't wanna fight. We just came here for looking for someone from the Nara clan, and we believe it's him." He pointed to me. Ino and Hinata stood between me and him.

"I'm sorry but we won't allow you to do as you please." Hinata stood her ground.

"He isn't going anywhere. If you want him you're going to have to go through us. He started to chuckle.

"I won't go easy on you two just because you're cute." The three of us glared at him.

"Don't underestimate us because we're girls! Let's go Hinata!" Ino shouted and ran towards him.

"Take this!" The blonde sent him flying through the trees with a roundhouse kick. She than pulled out a few paper bombs and threw them towards the mysterious attacker.

"Did I get him?" she stared intently before a barrage of kunai shot out of the smoke. Hinata quickly jumped in front of Ino.

"Protective 8 Trigrams, 64 Palms!" She deflected the simple attack. The man lunged for Hinata ready to take her down.

"Ninja Art! Shadow Stitching Jutsu!" My shadows quickly weaved around the girls piercing the him before he too close. He than just hovered in the air being suspended by my shadows. As I released my jutsu he fell to the ground.

"Well that wasn't too much of a challenge. I hope everyone else is okay." Ino sighed while looking back at Hinata and I.

"That wasn't even good enough for a warm up." He got up, catching us off guard, and lunged for both Hinata and grabbing Ino by the throats. They were gasping for air.

"Ninja Art! Shadow Possession Jutsu!"

"So you really are the one we're looking for. You made this mission much easier." He smiled at me. He chucked the two kunoichi towards me and dodged my shadow.

'Shit.' I quickly ran towards them and caught them.

"Are you two okay?" I looked over them while they recomposed themselves.

"Yeah we're fine. Just wondering why he isn't dead." The blonde glared.

"Don't worry he's within my range." Hinata glared.

As she got into stance he ran towards us unaware of the Hyuuga beside him.

"What! How did you-" Hinata already on the offense.

"8 trigrams 2 palms!"

Already caught Ino and I relaxed.

"4 palms! 8 palms! 16 palms! 32 palms! 64 palms!" She finished the assault sending him flying a good distance.

"And here's for good measures!" Ino yelled as she threw a few paper bombs towards the guy.

"Nice job Hinata, Shikamaru! We totally kicked his ass!" The blonde ran towards her.

"INO! HINATA! BEHIND YOU!" I shouted seeing the man right behind them.

As soon as they relaized what was going on, a hit landed on both of them knocking them out. He reached down and picked them up by their throats.

"If you want your pretty liitle friends to live you'll come with me. And don't think about using your shadow. I'm far out of your range." I glared at him.

'Damn he already figured out my range? Shit...I'm sorry guys it looks like a have no choice.' I stood and slowly walked over to him.

"So you don't try anything..." He threw the two girls towards my house. Before I could do anything a sharp pain shot through my neck. Next thing I knew everything was slowly going dark. The last thing I see is Ino getting up and screaming.

'Sorry Ino. I'm sorry Kiba.' Than the darkness completely takes over.

* * *

I know it may have dragged on a little but I was going somewhere with it! I just hope this will hold you over until chapter 5. Oh and I should let you know I'll be switching to back and forth from Shikamaru's P.O.V. and 3rd Person so hopefully you guys will be okay with that. So heres the usual " Please review! I want feedback on what you think and such!" Thanks!

P.S. I wanted to give a big thanks to TheSecretCrusader for their review! (Really got me pumped and motivated!) Tadashi Fire Wolf, because of your reviews and your support! And last but not least, JaydenNara because I read your story and that got me working harder!

*- Oicho-Kabu is a traditional Japanese card game that is similar to the Western card games, blackjack and baccarat. It is typically played with special kabufuda cards.

DZD3


	5. Pain and Sadness

Chapter 5: Pain and Sadness

* * *

"Shikamaru!" Ino shouted.

"Don't worry, I didn't kill him. I just knocked him out so he won't be such a hassle." The male chuckled and tossed Shikamaru over his shoulder. He turned on the mic he had.

"Hey, I've got what we came for. There's no need to continue our search. Move out." He disappeared leaving the two girls on the ground.

"Hinata what are we going to tell the others." The blonde laid there rubbing her neck and trying to recompose herself.

"I don't know I'm just worried about Kiba." The bluenette coughed a little.

Everyone felt unease seeing as how their enemy abruptly left after causing such a problem for them. They immediately headed back to Shikamaru's place worried about the others.

"Ino! Hinata!" Sakura, Tenten, Kiba and Naruto ran up to the two and looked at their conditions.

"We're fine, nothing to severe." Ino and Hinata looked down ashamed of what happened.

"So...were we all attacked by enemy ninja? What's going on?" Naruto pulled Hinata into his arms.

"Where's Shika?" Kiba looked around. His face was filling with concern. He ran into the house. "Shika? Shikamaru? Where are you?" Kiba's voice was becoming more frantic. Sakura looked down at Ino and Naruto looked down at Hinata. Both of their eyes began to fill with tears.

"He's gone isn't he?" Sakura asked. The blonde just nodded. The dog nin was still shouting waiting for Shikamaru to pop out. He stopped and looked towards his friends.

With no response, his voice was becoming more and more strained.

"Where's Shikamaru?" He asked. Hinata couldn't bear to bring her eyes to his. Ino looked at Kiba.

"Kiba I'm so sorry. We just weren't strong enough." She broke down. Kiba's eyes widened. He started shaking his head. He fell to his knees.

"No this can't be happening. I don't believe it." Tenten and Chouji were about to comfort him, but Kiba quickly stood up than took off.

"Kiba wait!" The weapon nin shouted before Chouji put a hand on her shoulder.

"How could I have been so weak?!" Ino screamed into the ground.

"I couldn't even protect him!" Tears were spilling from her eyes. Hinata reached for her hand and squeezed it a little.

"Ino, we both weren't prepared. We'll get him back." Hinata was acting more confident. "If its one thing I learned all my life, it was to never give up. I learned it from someone who is very important to me." Naruto gave them his quirky smile.

"Don't forget us, we'll all work together to get Shikamaru back."

Ino started wiping her tears away.

"You guys are right; I need to be strong for Shikamaru and for Kiba." She looked to the area where the dog ninja took off.

"Well, we know nothing about these guys besides there's three of them. They came here looking for Shikamaru and that their team was very skilled and we have no idea what village they're from, at least that we know of so far. Did anyone learn anything from their battles?"

Naruto looked at everyone.

"Well our opponent was a girl and she fought from a distance using weapons like Tenten and was skilled with fire styled jutsus. I think she said her name was Yin Kiyazaki. She seemed really friendly until she attacked us." The med nin was irritated thinking about the scenario.

"What do you mean until she attacked you?" Lee asked puzzled.

"Well we found her looking around and than she noticed us and ran to ask and started asking about a shadow ninja. When we told her we know someone like that she attacked us." Tenten smirked. "But man she sure could use some more training if she want's to beat me with weapons."

"Our enemy was a girl too. She was pretty quiet but fast and strong. Naruto and I could barely keep up or even land a hit. Lee was probably the only one who could keep up with her. She used a lot of earth styled attacks." Chouji paused. "Come to think of it, she looked about the same age as us."

"Well at least you guys had a fighting chance. The guy we were up against wasn't your average shinobi. He withstood both Hinata and my attacks. Even Shikamaru's shadow stitching didn't affect him. This guy something seemed off about him." The blonde sighed by the whole incident.

"We should wait for the others and inform Lady Tsunade about everything before we make a move." The blue haired nin looked at the others hoping to convince everyone.

"Yeah, let's notify Lady Tsunade about this and how about the rest go search for Kiba?" Sakura stood up and stretched. Hinata, Naruto and Ino did the same.

"I'll go find him. I think I'll be able to calm him down since we're team mates and close friends." Hinata seemed to wait for Naruto's response

"That sounds great Hinata. Sakura, Ino and I will go explain the situation to granny Tsunade. While we do that Tenten, Lee and Chouji, you three will also search for Kiba. It might be easier on Hinata."

Everyone nodded. Sakura took off and the other two followed.

"Byakugan!"The blue hair nin began searching.

"See anything Hinata?" Chouji pulled out a bag of potato chips and began eating.

"Not yet, I think we'll have to split up " The blue haired nin sounded worried.

"Alright then, we'll just have to be careful. I'm totally prepared this time." Tenten came back out of Shikamaru's house with her giant scroll.

"Okay everyone meet back here in twenty minutes. If you manage to find Kiba, just talk with him and see if he's okay. If another ambush happens send out some sort of warning signal."

"Hinata I'll go with you. Chouji and Lee, you guys head Northwest. We'll head Northeast."

With that they nodded and headed out.

**(Somewhere in the forest)**

'Why can't I find him? I can't even pick up his scent!' Kiba felt as if his heart was slowly being ripped out.

"Shikamaru!" The dog nin fell to the ground and held himself and broke down.

"Why wasn't I there I could've protected him why " The night was beginning to fall and stars were slowly appearing.

Akamaru appeared next to Kiba. He was nudging the dog nin with his nose and whining.

"I lost him Akamaru I lost Shika " The dog nin was short of breath and tears were slowly beginning to fall.

"He said he'd always be here " Akamaru whined and laid next to his owner, keeping him warm.

'I need to find him I need to rescue him ' Kiba slowly closed his eyes exhausted from how this day was turning out.

It wasn't until shortly after a familiar scent filled the air. The big dog raised his head wagging his tail sensing the two girls coming near. They appeared through the clearing and moved quickly to the two on the ground.

"Kiba!" Hinata kneeled down next to the dog nin and Akamaru. "At least you're safe. Akamaru will you help us get him home?" Akamaru barked and slowly got up not waking his owner.

"Let's go." Hinata and Tenten picked Kiba up and followed the big dog to the Inuzuka's house.

'Kiba I'm so sorry I wasn't strong enough to protect Shikamaru. You must be in so much pain...' The blue haired nin looked back at her friend.

"I guess I should've been prepared what do you think Akamaru?" The dog whined.

"It's hard to be prepared for something like this." The weapon specialist stated.

"Maybe I'm just being too hard on myself " She sighed and continued moving.

A couple minutes passed before they finally arrived to their destination.

It was a nice big house for a big family. Hinata knocked on the door a couple times before Hana opened the door.

"Oh my god! What happened?" The older Inuzuka pulled Hinata in and helped bring Kiba over to the couch.

"Enemy ninja came and attacked us earlier." Hana's eyes widened.

"Everyone seemed to be fine but they came here and took Shikamaru with them." Hinata let this sink in for a moment.

"They took Shikamaru? Why? And how does this relate to Kiba's condition?" She was slowly getting angry about everything that was happening. The Tenten continued.

"We haven't figured that out yet, but after Kiba found out he took off I found him like this a little while ago " Hana looked over to her younger brother. Kiba was breathing hard and it looked like a fever was started.

"He looks like someone placed a horrible genjutsu on him." Her eyes watered. "I've never seen him suffer like this before." Hana walked over to him and wiped some tears that were falling.

"Kiba is probably going through something unimaginable since he lost Shikamaru." Both the girls eyes began watering too. Thinking of how hard he's fallen from everything that had happened.

"Why do you say that?" She looked concerned but confused mainly.

"Shikamaru and Kiba had confessed that they like each other and had started a relationship together." Hinata kept her stare on her best friend.

"This is horrible." Hinata looked at the older Inuzuka worried.

"Why do you say that?" Hana looked at her with tears falling down her cheeks.

"I'm sure Kiba already imprinted on Shikamaru. And imprinting on someone is huge to our clan. When we imprint it's like when you see that person everything changes. Nothing else matters. You would do anything you would be anything for that person. It's does a lot of damage when we lose those we imprint on, we lose a part of ourselves as well as slowly give up on life. It's not always the case but for the most part it is." Hana sat next to her brother and held him close to her.

"I don't want to lose my brother!" She cried. Hinata's hands turned into fists.

"Are you saying that Kiba is in love with Shikamaru?" Hana looked at the girls.

"To put it simple, yes." Hinata and Tenten's eyes widened.

"Then...we'll stop at nothing until Kiba recovers and we rescue Shikamaru!"

'Is this the same shy, timid girl that was here a long time ago?' The older Inuzuka grabbed both girls hand and bowed.

"Thank you so much thank you." She let go and laid her brother back down. After she made sure he looked more comfy she hugged both of them trying to control her emotions.

"Can you stay here for a bit? I want to go speak with the Hokage." They nodded and moved over to sit down.

"I'll be back soon, I promise. Again thank you." She wiped away some tears and smiled. Hinata smiled back. With that Hana got some stuff together and headed out.

They looked back at their friend and frowned and sat across from him.

"We'll get him back Kiba, you have my word."

**(In the Hokage's office)**

"Lady Tsunade!" Sakura busted through the door followed by Ino and Naruto.

"Sakura what is it?" Tsunade stood up eyeing the three ninja.

"Enemy ninja infiltrated the village and attacked us earlier and then captured Shikamaru." Tsunade's face became expressionless and then sat down.

"Where were these ninja from?" She looked at the three in front of her waiting for an answer.

"There weren't any marking on their head bands. So we're not exactly sure " Sakura sighed. The Hokage sighed and then turned around and looked out the window.

"Do you remember what these ninja look like?" She kept her gaze over the village.

"Well earlier we split into three teams for a little contest and while we were out and about we ended up facing one opponent each. That's why the three of us are here just incase you would ask this." Naruto stated.

"Well instead of telling me this, don't you think you should've just explained what they looked like?" Tsunade glared, already feeling annoyed at the late intrusion.

"The ninja we fought was a girl which looked around our age. She was a bit shorter than me and had long green hair put into a ponytail. She had the same skin tone as me and used fire style jutsus and weapon controls like Tenten. If I remember correctly I think she introduced herself as Yin Kiyazaki." The med nin was also writing a report.

"Our enemy was a girl too and she was maybe Shikamaru's height. She had medium length hair and it was black. She also looked our age but I'm not too sure. She fought with a lot of earth styled jutsus and she was really fast like bushy brows." Naruto stood there thinking if there was anything else to add.

"I guess that's all I can remember." Sakura put paper in front of him.

"Write your report then." He frowned.

"Fine "

Ino was looking down the entire time.

"Ino what's wrong?" Tsunade looked at her reflection in the window.

"If Hinata or I were prepared or at least strong enough Shikamaru would still be here " Ino's voice was low. Tsunade turned around and gave her a stern look.

"Don't blame yourself for what happened. This happens, which is why I will have a message sent to Kakashi and have them return. We will get him back Ino." Ino looked up a bit shocked.

"I'm sorry Lady Tsunade." She looked back down.

"Its okay, describe your enemy and after we know what they look like we'll be able to find them a bit sooner." Tsunade smiled a bit and Ino did as well.

"Ours was a guy who looked about two years older than us. He was maybe Kiba's skin tone " The blonde thought of the Inuzuka.

"Oh god " She fell to her knees.

"Ino what's wrong?" The Hokage quickly stood. Sakura and Naruto both looked at each other realizing what happened.

"It's Kiba Lady Tsunade " Sakura went over to comfort her childhood friend.

"What about Kiba? Is he hurt?"

"We're not completely sure..." The loud nin just turned to the Hokage with a solemn look on his face.

"What do you mean by that Naruto?" Her face showed much confusion and concern. Before Naruto could answer Hana broke through the door.

"Lady Hokage!" She busted in panting with tears falling.

"Hana?" Tsunade was shocked to have another visitor, especially the Inuzuka's older sister.

'What is going on around here today?' Her mind was slowly losing track of everything.

"It's Kiba; we need to find Shikamaru quickly!" Hana couldn't stop the overflowing tears. The other three looked at Hana wondering how she found out.

"What happened to Kiba?" All four of them asked.

"Hinata and Tenten brought Kiba back and he's suffering like most Inuzuka's do after losing a mate. If we don't do anything quickly...Kiba might possibly die." Everyone's eyes widened.

"What do you mean Hana? How?" Ino looked up scared.

"I think Kiba imprinted on Shikamaru making him his mate. Our clan is really serious about this. It's basically a binding love. But if we lose the one we imprinted on, we basically lose the will too live. It may sound dumb but it's how our clan is sometimes we may fall in love without having to imprint and I'm not sure if Kiba did imprint on Shikamaru but he's showing the signs and I just we have to find him quickly! Please Lady Hokage please." Hana was on her knees.

"So it's way more serious than I thought " Tsunade held her hand to her mouth thinking.

"All of you are dismissed. Naruto, Sakura, Ino. I want you three to gather everyone else and let them know what's going on and I want you all here tomorrow morning at the crack of dawn. Hana I'll be coming back with you to check on Kiba's condition. You three are dismissed. Hana let's go." Everyone began heading out.

**(Somewhere deep in a fortress)**

"We've returned Kumaru-sama. We also brought back the target." The male ninja spoke.

"It was surprisingly easy. But there are some ugly girls in the Hidden leaf." Yin stuck out her tongue smiling.

"You're the one to talk Yin." He chuckled.

"What did you say!? I can't believe you Kenzo, you're so mean! Mayumi did you hear that?" Yin looked over to her teammate.

"That wasn't very nice Kenzo. Why don't you apologize to her?" Mayumi looked over at her two bickering friends. Another ninja came out.

"At least you guys got to go out. I was stuck here doing nothing." The ninja pouted.

"Aw sorry Hideki, if it was up to me I would have had the whole team go!" She giggled and ran up to Hideki and hugged him.

"Yeah yeah. It was Kumaru-sama who said if more of us go it'll cause some problems." He rested against a wall.

"All of you be quiet. You're giving me a headache." They all quieted to see their leader and bowed.

"Kumaru-sama!" They said in unison.

"I see the mission was successful. Lock the boy up until I have finished preparing the altar for the ceremony." The ninja nodded.

"Yes Kumaru-sama." They said in unison again.

He chuckled and started walking back to where he was before.

* * *

Another chapter down! More to go. This is getting more and more difficult only because I keep getting distracted by other things. Anyway thank you everyone for reading!

DZD3


	6. Comrades

Chapter 6: Comrades

* * *

**(The Inuzuka's House)**

"Hinata? Tenten? Are you guys still here?" Hana asked as she entered.

"Yes, we're in the living room still. Kibas' condition hasn't changed at all." The brunette sighed looking back at her friend.

"I brought Lady Tsunade with me to see if there's something we can't do to help until we figure out what really is affecting him."

"Let me see him." Tsunade quickly moved to Kibas side and checked his pulse and some vitals. Her hands began to glow with chakra. 'This is strange. His nervous system seems to be slowing down and his organs aren't functioning properly.' She looked over to the older Inuzuka. "Hana, tell me is this what happens to those who lose the person they've imprinted on?" She kept her look on the ninja in front of her.

"I'm not sure. I've never experienced it myself nor seen it firsthand." The older Inuzuka frowned.

'His condition is much more serious than I thought.' Tsunade continued checking anything and everything of the Inuzuka's to see if she could find something abnormal or out of the ordinary.

"How bad is it?" Hana was on the other side of her brother and watching. Hinata left to prepare tea to help relax everyone.

"How long has he been like this Hana?"

"I'm not sure, They were the ones who found Kiba and they hsd brought him here." The older Inuzuka stroked her brothers' hair.

"Hinata, do you know how long Kiba's been in this state?" Tsunade looked over to the blue haired kunoichi.

"We arrived a couple seconds after he collapsed. He seemed very worn out " She frowned.

"What should we do Lady Tsunade?" Hana stared at her brother worried.

"I can't do much but ease his mind and heal some of his injuries from the battle earlier." Tsunade moved her hands over the Inuzuka and began working on what she could. Her hands once again began glowing. The cuts and scrapes slowly began to close up.

Hana and Hinata relaxed a little seeing Kiba relax more. Tsunade quickly finished up and then ordered the two kunoichi to take Kiba up to his room for rest.

"He'll be out for a while. Now we need to figure out how to rescue Shikamaru and what those ninja are after. Anyway I'm heading out. You guys get some rest and I'll see you both in the morning with everyone else." The two nodded, with that Tenten, Hinata and Tsunade left.

Hana headed to her room; on her way there she stopped at Kiba's room. "Kiba, everything is going to be okay. Don't you worry goodnight Kiba." And she went into her room and closed her door.

**(The next day, Hokage's Office, about 6:00 a.m.)**

"Lady Tsunade, everyone is assembled on the roof. Shall we get going?" Shizune put down Tonton. The Hokage nodded and the two began their way up.

"It looks like we're all here." Ino looked around

"Yeah all but Kiba, I wonder where he is?" Lee looked at the village.

"Kiba is actually at home resting under Lady Tsunade's orders." Hana stated before kneeling down. The others saw Lady Tsunade and Shizune and knelt down.

"Morning everyone. You all know why you're here, so I'll just get straight to it. We need to figure out where those ninja are hiding as well as who they are and what they want with Shikamaru." She sat down.

"What do you think we should do?" Sakura looked up hoping Lady Tsunade would have something.

"Hinata how far can you see with you're Byakugan?" Tsunade looked at the blue haired kunoichi.

"I can see about ten kilometers out."

"Okay, than right now I want Lee and Sakura to go with you to the main gate and head into the woods to search for anything out of the ordinary." The three nodded and headed for the main gate.

"What should we do Granny Tsunade?"

"Shouldn't we come up with a plan or something?" Ino looked at Naruto.

"We can't just sit on our butts and do nothing! What if they kill Shikamaru or they do something horrible!" Naruto was on his feet and his hands were clinched into fists.

"Naruto, calm down." The Hokage closed her eyes and sighed. "We need to figure everything out first." About twenty minutes passed by before Hinata, Lee and Sakura returned.

"I'm sorry my lady but Hinata was unable to see anything that would have been of help."

"It's ok, you all should relax. I'll see what I can find out, but for now just be ready. If I find anything you guys will be notified and will move out immediately." Everyone nodded and took off.

"Shizune."

"Yes my lady?" Shizune stood patiently awaiting orders.

"Go look and see if we have any shinobi that might be able to track down Shikamaru." Shizune nodded and hurried off.

'I hope we're not too late ' The Hokage stared out over the village.

**(Somewhere in the fortress)**

"Kenzo I'm bored!" Yin shouted angrily, arms crossed glaring at the man lying against a pillar.

"Not my problem. Don't really care." His eyes still closed.

"You're so mean and boring. Why don't you do anything fun!" She flipped her green hair and turned around and began walking away. "Maybe Hideki or Mayumi will have fun."

"That girl is ridiculous." He sighed and went back to his nap.

"Mayumi! Hideki! Where are you guys?" The green haired nin yelled throughout the hallways. "Is this bore Yin to death day or something sheesh." She was getting more frustrated until she managed to find the Nara chained to the wall in his cell.

"Hey, shadow boy. You still alive?" She kicked a stone towards Shikamaru.

He sat there and ignored her. Not really in the social mood being chained up and all like some animal.

"What makes you so special anyway that our lord would send us after you anyway." She pulled up a chair and sat there talking like he would respond. "I mean you don't look like someone that would be worth his time or anything, plus you seem so blah." Silence. "Don't tell me you're boring too! Geez what do I have to do to have fun!"

"Maybe you could shut up and go away. That sounds fun." The shadow user said still not looking at her.

"Excuse me? Who the hell do you think you are to talk to me that way! That's really mean and besides you're not in any position to say stuff like that." The green haired nin became irritated then an idea popped into her head.

"You're not that bad looking actually. Maybe I might have my fun after all." She smirked. Shikamarus' stomach dropped. "Since you're tied up you can't really fight back and it has been sometime since I've done anything for myself. Let's see if we both can't have some fun."

"Don't you dare touch me."

"Oh please, I'll make everything feel good." With that she entered the cell and walked towards the shadow user.

"Get away from me you bitch." Shikamaru tried to get her away but failed at doing so.

"Just calm down and leave everything to me." She spoke into his ear and reached down his pants. After a while nothing happened.

"You must be gay, I mean usually I have guys turned on. But with you nothing has happened, such a shame. But I know of ways to get what I want, and I always get what I want." She started to remove his clothes. "It's sad that I'm lowering myself to rape a gay guy but beggars can't be choosers right?" She chuckled and Shikamaru stood there unable to fight back.

"Let's really get this started."

His eyes went wide with fear.

**(Back in the village)**

"I'm not waiting around while a team is being handpicked! Who knows how long it'll take if we wait around!" The blonde yelled, irritated with the situation.

"Ino you need to calm down-."

"Sakura no! Shikamaru needs us, you don't understand we need to save him for Kiba, us, and himself!" Sakura looked down. She knew that arguing would accomplish nothing and the fact that she went through her own ordeal with Sasuke and Naruto.

"Chouji, are you with me?" Chouji stood quietly and then nodded.

"We're a team and a family. We've always had each other's back and we're not going to stop now." Ino smiled and with that they both took off to their houses.

"What should we do? We can't let them go alone." Tenten asked feeling slightly stressed.

"It's simple. We'll go with them after all, we're comrades right?" Naruto stated while appearing from behind a tree.

"I don't know Naruto. Let's get everyone together first, but we'll have to hurry before they take off." Sakura said while quickly hopping up to the roof. "Get everyone at the main gate and be there no less than five minutes!"

Tenten and Naruto nodded before taking off as well.

'Ino please be smart about this...' Sakura looked at the sky. 'So much going on...hang in there Kiba. You too Shikamaru.' She picked up the pace and headed for Naruto's place.

* * *

Yeha not really good with sex scenes...or rape scenes... but hey chapter is done!

DZD3


	7. Revelation

Chapter 7: Revelation

* * *

**(A little out of the Leaf Village)**

Thankfully everyone was relaxing around the third training field.

"Naruto? What's going on?" Hinata sat up.

"Ino and Chouji plan on leaving to go rescue Shikamaru." Everyone at that point stood up. Naruto nodded and smirked.

"I thought as much. See what did I tell you guys."

"What do you mean Naruto?" The Lee cocked his head. "You didn't tell me anything." The blonde sighed.

"I mean everyone else. I knew that those two wouldn't wait so after we left granny's place we got our stuff together. That way we'd be ready to leave with them." He smiled. Lee grinned.

"Than shall we go to the main gate to meet up with Sakura?"

Everyone nodded and made their way back to the village.

**(Ino's House)**

'Alright, I think I have everything I need...' The blonde lost in thought while cleaning some things up.

"Ino are you ready?" Chouji called out from the street. Ino made her way to the window and smiled.

"Yeah, just grabbing a few things. Give me a second." After finishing up she jumped down from her window.

"Alright lets get going quickly before we're caught." Her friend nodded and they hurried through the city. What they didn't know was there was a certain pink haired medic following.

"We should be good since everyone is still in bed. Let's hurry we're almost out of here." Ino said feeling her adrenaline pumping through her veins. Before the two could get past the gates a few kunai were hurled to where they were about to be.

Ino and Chouji prepared for an attack only to realize it was Sakura. The pink haired girl dropped down in front of them.

"So you two were really going to leave." She sighed.

"Sakura get out of our way! You can't stop us!" Ino glared getting into stance.

"I'm not here to stop you two. None of us are." Chouji and Ino relaxed and slowly realized that their friends were all around them.

"We're not letting you guys go by yourselves. Plus I doubt you two came up with a plan." Ino couldn't help but smile.

"Alright, is everyone ready?" They nodded.

"Than lets get going before Lady Tsunade figures out what we're doing." Everyone double checked themselves before finally heading out.

But little did they know that Tsunade was standing in the shadows with a soft smile.

"Lady Tsunade, are you really letting them go like that?" Shizune walked forward a bit looking at part of the forest they entered.

"I am. I believe they can do it. Besides Kakashi and the others will be there to assist them." She looked up to the sky.

"I hope so." Shizune stared still concerned.

"You worry to much. Did I ever tell you that?" The Hokage let out a small chuckle. Her assistant just sighed and picked up there little friend before heading back to the mansion.

**(The fortress somewhere...still unknown location)**

Shikamaru was paralyzed with fear, disgust and so many emotions. Yin slowly got dressed and looked back to the shadow user and smiled.

"With all those marks people will know you belong to me." He was covered in sweat, scratches, bites and multiple bruises. If people looked at him, it would like like he got in a brawl and lost.

"Go to hell." His eyes watered. Kiba kept filling his head. The thought of being used and played with by some tramp made his heart ache. He hated her. His hatred for her burned brighter than a million suns. He was Kiba's not hers.

"Awe don't say such things. I mean I made you cum, I could've done worse things." Shikamaru felt like he was broken and no longer worth anything.

"It's not like you have a husband or anything." She laughed until she realized there was no response. Before she could do anything her friend walked in.

"Yin what have you done?" Mayumi had a very monotonous tone but her facial features told much more.

"Uh...I..." Before she could finish the black haired women was in front of her and back handed her.

"OW!" The green haired girl's eye started to water. "Mayumi I'm sorry! I was bored and-" Another back hand. The girl looked ready to cry.

"You were bored! That's no excuse for something this revolting. I can't believe you Yin. Of all people YOU know how I feel about acts such as this." She started to cry and hugged her.

"Mayumi I forgot! I'm so sorry it won't happen again! I promise!" She glared at the younger girl.

"It's not me you have to apologize too. He's the one you should be apologizing to."

"But he's our prisoner and-"

"Yin he's like us. We're all here against our will." Mayumi's gaze rested on the young man chained up and shaking. Yin made her way to the shadow user and bowed.

"I'm really sorry. I know what I did was wrong and it should have never happened." With that she hurried out of the room to escape her friends wrath.

After a while the black haired woman made her way to the boy.

"I truly am sorry about her. She still has much to learn about the world and people."

Shikamaru could do nothing but wonder what the hell was wrong with these people.

"My name is Mayumi Katezawa. Let me explain a few things before the Master comes." She pulled out medicinal items and began treating all the cuts and scratches.

Shikamaru winced every now and then but listened to her.

**(In the forest)**

"Hinata can you use your Byakugan and see if you spot anything?" Hinata nodded and started scanning the area.

"I see some people up ahead." They came to a stop. "I think it's Neji and the others."

"Lets be careful. It could be fakes or something." Sakura stated.

"They're heading this way. It looks like they noticed us!" She said while regrouping with everyone.

"Everyone get ready..."

"Well good to see you guys are smarted and more prepared." Kakashi said while jumping down. A couple seconds later Neji, Shino and Sai joined the scene.

"What are you guys doing here? Shouldn't you be back in the village?" The fox asked confused.

"Well Lady Tsunade had a feeling you guys wouldn't wait so she sent us a message telling us to meet up with you guys instead.

Everyone gave a nervous chuckle.

"She knew?"

"Of course." Kakashi smile while everyone sighed.

"Well since we're somewhat far from the village lets figure out a plan. Than we'll start searching the area for them.

With that they started discussing different strategies and formations. But not too far off they were being watched from the darkness of the forest.

'So these kids plan on taking back their friend? We'll just have to see about that.' The figure slowly started to sink into the ground while chuckling.

* * *

Short chapter I know and I'm sorry. I'm trying to get back into the feel of things! Anyways I already have chapter 8 underway! So that's a plus but again thanks to you readers, you guys are great and I'm glad you're sticking with this story as well as putting up with me!

DZD3


	8. Regroup

Chapter 8: Regroup

* * *

**(Back in the strange hidden fortress)**

"Master Kurama is a very dangerous person to reckon with. Whenever he finds something he wants, he stops at nothing till it's in his possesion. He cares not about others and their feelings. I may speak poorly of him now, but that is because he does not control me at this moment." She looked down.

"What do you mean control you?" Shikamaru looked up. As he looked at her, he could see she was older than him at least 25 if not a little older. Her hair was long and beautiful and had some sort of flower placed on the left side of her head. Her clothes were that of a normal villager, a light blue knee length dress. Had a dark grey blouse that somewhat reminded him of Neji, and basic shinobi tools. But his thoughts were disrupted when she spoke again.

"As in he controls all of us...it's a jutsu he created. I still haven't figured out how to break it...but I'm still trying to find a way." Shikamaru could have sworn he saw a small flash of hatred. But it was gone as quick as it came.

"You all seem fine right now." He stated while looking around. It was then he realized that the room he was in seemed almost as if he were in a village inn, minus the fact that the walls and ground were rock and dirt. From what he could gather he was underground or at least appeared to be underground. It was all still unclear.

"I feel as if you will be put under his jutsu soon." She frowned. "I'm really sorry that you were dragged into this. But if anything, once I find out how to break this jutsu, I'm freeing all of us from this wretched man who calls himself 'Master'." She spat out angrily.

"Well can't you just release me and get you far enough from him?" He looked at her hoping something could happen.

"He would sense something amiss and no doubt control us and stop you from getting far. Even if distancing myself from him, he can still control us. I haven't been able to get too far without him noticing and reeling me back in."

"Is there more to his kidnapping of certain shinobi or is this some sort of game to him?" She finally finished patching up what she could and started to clean up.

"As far as I know he has something in store for all of us and every country out there."

Shikamaru could think of nothing at this moment and sighed. "This is so troublesome..." Mayumi nodded a little in agreement.

'I wonder how Kiba is holding up.' He began thinking

"What's on your mind?" She kneeled down in front of him.

"Why do you care so much about getting to know me?" He eyed her unsure of how she made him feel.

"Because, if I'm going to be trapped here with everyone, I'd like to know who they are and what type of people they are." She gave him a small smile.

"Yeah, I'm thinking about my frie-" He stopped. Kiba was more than just a friend to him. Hell if he really thought about it he loved him. Of course he couldn't just out and say that to him, with just starting a relationship.

"Are you thinking about your lover?" She had obviously caught him off guard with that. Mayumi frowned slightly at this realizing that this guy had someone back home who was probably worried sick.

"You could say that I guess." The thought of Kiba freaking out played into his head. The thought of it was making his heart ache.

"Talk to me about it. I feel as if we have time to talk now." Shikamaru was shocked when she had undone the shackles and chains that had bound him. After he was comfortable he began to tell her about Kiba.

**(Back in the forest, near the land of rivers)**

"Okay so does everyone understand?" Kakashi looked at everyones faces.

They all nodded in agreement.

"Okay Hinata, Sai and Tenten up with me. Neji, Shino and Chouji cover the rear. Sakura, Naruto, Ino and Lee stay alert and keep an eye out."

After getting into formation they headed out towards the valley where they had heard reports about random attacks. Hoping they would catch wind of them.

After about twenty minutes of traveling, a barrage of weapons rained down upon the group.

"Everyone watch out!" Neji shouted before defending himself.

"Where the hell did that come from?" Tenten yelled while using her scroll to take down all the weapons. Hinata and Neji looked around trying to find the source.

"Kakashi sensei behind you!" The Hyuugas yelled.

Kakashi easily evaded the attack and pinned the man to the ground.

"Not bad, not bad at all. I expected nothing less from you Kakashi." He smirked.

"Who are you and what are you doing here." The man chuckled and disappeared in smoke.

"My name is Kenzo Itaiyo. I'm here to stop you all from ruining my masters' ceremony."

"I will kill you!" Ino charged towards Kenzo pulling out Asuma's chakra blades.

Being faster and more prepared she managed to land a punch and slice part of his side.

"You little bitch." He growled punching her back to the group, then moved away and made hand signs.

"Fire Style! Demon Breath Jutsu!" Within seconds fire was all around them.

"The fire is too thick to get through!" Sakura shielded her face from the heat.

Everyone was huddled in the center of the flames when Kakashi noticed Kenzo leaping high into the air above them.

"Fire Style! Beast Inferno!"

**(Leaf Village, Inuzuka Compound)**

Kiba had finally opened his eyes after two days. Hana noticed and was by his side instantly.

"Kiba are you okay? Kiba talk to me." She spoke gently while feeling his forehead.

"What…is wrong…with…me?" He managed to get out. His body didn't want to respond to him, he felt like he was dying, like he had years ago with one of the sound four.

"I think you may have imprinted…on Shikamaru…" Hanas' eyes began to tear up. Kiba's vision slowly faded into black before he was unconscious again. Her head dropped and began to cry.

"Kiba please don't die. Mom is gone…I don't want to lose you either…I can't go through this again…"

Tsunade gently put her hand on the Inuzuka's shoulder. The look she received made her think of her own brother she lost many years ago.

"Hana you need to be strong. I'm sure the others are close to Shikamaru. We'll fix this. The most I can do right now is monitor his heart rate and hook him up to an IV drip. Help me get him to the hospital. We'll figure this out.

Hana wiped her eyes and nodded. Getting up and grabbing stuff for Kiba was a simple thing, but she hurried.

**(Again in the forest)**

The fire roared and came down.

Kakashi sighed relieved and after a couple of seconds everyone looked around to see the fire was gone.

"What the…" Naruto looked up and then let out a loud laugh. "Well whaddaya know."

Sand started to disperse and drop fall down. It wasn't long until Gaara appeared in front of them.

"Is everyone okay?" Everyone nodded though his attention was focused on the enemy.

"My oh my, this appears to have gotten even better now that the Kazekage's involved! Kenzo smile grew and began laughing hysterically.

"Wind Style! Sea Dragon!" A massive tornado had appeared and shot down onto Kenzo as he was stuck within the wind. Temari stood there smirking.

"Kankuro, finish it up will ya?

"Already on it sis." He smiled while puppets flew from the trees. "Poison Mist Inferno! Consecutive Needle Combo!"

Everyone watched as the two puppets known as Crow and Black Ant launched poison gas bombs and senbons and the one getting cut up within the windstorm.

Everyone was ready to move on until the attack just stopped. No wind, poison bombs, or senbons. It was like nothing even happened.

"What the hell happened!" Temari yelled while rejoining her brothers.

Gaara looked at the man laughing. "Let's find out and finish this." And sand shot towards the man widely grinning at them all.

* * *

I know this took way too much time and I'm sorry, I finally got internet at my new house and I've been busy with my 2 jobs. So I have a few more chapters started, I just need to finish them. Again thank you for reading, following, and reviewing it makes me happy that this story is doing okay! :) Just know I'm still trying to incorporate feedback from you all, so let me know what you guys would like to see and hopefully this chapter isn't bad. I really want to make this story good I just can't think straight anymore so lately after rereading this it seems horrible! Anyway thanks everyone and enjoy!

DZD3


	9. AN Sorry

Hey readers,

Again I must apologize for the extremely long delay. I'm not sure why but I'm having such a difficult time getting back into the story. I do want to finish it, I really really do. So waiting for the next chapter will be a little longer than hoped for. But just know that it will be done soon…I hope. I mean I have it started and all its just to keep moving and all since I've been busy. Thanks to all who added this story to their favorites and etc. Thanks again and I'll make this next chapter worth it!

**DZD3**


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